It's a Cat's Life
by helga3
Summary: Kaidoh meets a kindred spirit, and the expected chaos ensues. A Prince of Tennis x Azumanga Daioh crossover. No, don't run away! Pure silly interaction fic, no pairings.


**Disclaimer: **I own nothing.

**Notes:** Set in high school for the Prince of Tennis boys, second year of high school for the Azumanga Daioh girls. Timeline? What timeline? Also, I usually hate using any Japanese other than honorifics in fic, but I had to twice here - there really isn't a good word for _ochibi_, and the _oishii_ joke doesn't actually work otherwise. But I _am_ properly ashamed of myself.

* * *

**It's A Cat's Life**

Afterwards, when asked how they first met, the answer people got was usually "We just... ran into each other." The answer was usually accompanied by a slight blush and an odd little smile - barely noticeable, but definitely there.

This was usually when people decided some things were probably better not to know.

The truth was, however, that they really had ran into each other, quite literally.

Kaidoh had been out jogging when he had seen a poster that drew his attention. He had stopped to study it, looked around, and jogged on. Only to stop again after a few steps, look around carefully, turn around and slink in anyway. Sakaki, on the other hand, had been looking forward to this for a long time already, ever since Chiyo-chan had mentioned it to her in passing a few week earlier. She'd been walking around inside, entranced, quite convinced that life could not possibly get better than this. So many cats, all in one place, and none of them trying to bite her.

She'd been so dazed that she didn't notice Kaidoh before it was too late and they were both sprawled on the floor. Kaidoh had been sure he'd seen Momoshiro, and so had found it more important to keep an eye on the crowd where he'd spotted the suspicious figure while making himself as inconspicuous as possibly than to actually watch where he was going. He did find it rather unlikely that that idiot would be at a cat show, but he had figured it was probably better to be safe than sorry.

And so the two distracted teenagers had bumped into each other going around a corner.

It had not been love at first sight.

It had, however, been recognition of a kindred spirit at first sight.

And such was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

* * *

"Kaidoh-kun?"

"Yes?"

"Why is there a boy with a notebook following us around?"

Kaidoh frowned. "Where?"

"There. Wearing the same school uniform as you."

Kaidoh looked in the direction she was pointing. "Oh," he said as he spotted the boy she was referring to. "That's just Inui-sempai. He's like that."

"I see." Sakaki frowned. "He's been following me around for three days now."

"Oh," was all that Kaidoh could think of saying.

They walked together in silence for a while.

"Kaidoh-kun," Sakaki said before they went their separate ways that evening, softly but resolutely. "I think I should meet your friends."

* * *

"So you're meeting his friends, huh?"

Sakaki nodded.

"Cool," Kagura said. "So he's, like, really your boyfriend now, then. _Officially._"

Sakaki blushed slightly. "We're just friends," she said.

"When are you going?" Tomo asked.

"This Sunday."

Tomo grinned, and turned to the rest of the gang. "Hey gang! Clear your schedules this Sunday! We've been invited to meet Sakaki's new boyfriend and his friends!"

Sakaki looked up. "You're all coming too?" she asked, not entirely sure this was a very good idea. And added, after a pause, "and we're just friends."

Tomo's grin grew wider. "Of course we're coming! We have to make sure he's good enough for you. And that his friends aren't just a bunch of weirdoes, you know!"

Chiyo-chan looked thoughtful. "So what's he like, your boyfriend? You haven't told us much about him."

"He's not my boyfriend." Sakaki paused, not quite sure how to properly describe Kaidoh. "But he's very... sweet," she finally said.

"Oh, the sensitive type," Kagura said, nodding in approval.

When most the gang had left, Yomi turned to Sakaki. Looking around to make sure no one else (Tomo) were around anymore, she leaned closer and said, "so do you know what his friends are like? Are they single?

"Just wondering," she added quickly as Sakaki raised her eyebrows.

* * *

Kaidoh looked around. He hadn't quite expected this. Of course, he hadn't really known what to expect at all

Somehow, once he had mentioned to Inui that Sakaki-san wanted to meet his friends, Inui had completely taken over arranging said meeting. And he wasn't at all surprised that Inui had invited along all the Seigaku regulars, as well as Kawamura-sempai - who, while not actually on the team anymore, was still considered something of an honorary member. That had been expected. He had also expected Sakaki to bring some friends along, as she'd mentioned something along those lines over the phone. He had, however, expected a couple of friends or so. Not six of them.

Not that he minded, it was just that six new people on top of his own insane team-mates was a bit much to handle.

He was also not entirely sure that the street courts were the right place for this. Of course, him being Kaidoh, he wasn't quite sure where else they could have met either. But somewhere in his mind there was the nagging suspicion that not all girls found tennis all that interesting, bewildering and almost blasphemous as the thought was. But Inui had arranged it here, and no one had complained.

* * *

"_You're_ that viper's girlfriend?" Momoshiro's voice was incredulous. "No way! That idiot could never find a girlfriend like you!"

"We're actually not dating," Sakaki said, but she was frowning, apparently not happy with this guy insulting her friend.

"I never would've thought it," Kikumaru agreed. "Way to _go_, Kaidoh! I'm so proud of you!"

"Actually-" Kaidoh began.

"No, seriously, _how'd_ he do it?" Momoshiro asked. "What did he tell you? 'Cause he was probably lying, you know. Yeah, definitely lying."

"Actually, we're not-" they began at the same time.

No one paid any attention to them.

"When you realise what an idiot that viper is, you can call me instead," Momoshiro told Sakaki seriously.

* * *

It surprised no one who knew her that Tomo was the first of the guests to find a racquet and happily try swinging it around, almost hitting Oishi in the head in the process.

"Sorry, sorry!" she said, not looking very sorry at all, and then tried another swing with the racquet. "How do you use these things anyway? Is there a manual?"

"Err... Here, I'll show you."

Oishi led Tomo out to the courts and in a while, she was actually able to hit the tennis ball back to him over the net.

"All right!" she cheered. "You're a good teacher, Oishii!"

As soon as she'd said those words, she could feel something looming up beside her, a strange menacing presence. She turned around to face the red-haired boy who'd been introduced as Kikumaru. "You can't call him that," he said, staring intently at her. "_I_ call him that."

"Oh. Okay. But it's a good joke!"

"It's _my_ good joke."

"I'll play you for it!" Tomo pointed the racquet at him. "I challenge you to a tennis match, Kikumaru!"

Kikumaru blinked. "I can't do that! You only just started. And you suck. It wouldn't be fair."

"Scared, are ya?"

Kikumaru stared at her for a moment, and then shrugged. "All right then. But you were the one who wanted this."

He shooed away a very embarrassed-looking Oishi from the court and took his place.

The match went on for a full three minutes before it degenerated into a lesson in acrobatics instead.

"You lost already?" Kagura asked quite a lot later, eyeing them as she showed up by the court after having heard about the game.

Tomo looked up. "Kagura! I challenge you to a tennis match!"

Kagura seemed unimpressed. "Feel like loosing again? You suck, and I can actually play, you know."

"Hey!" Kikumaru said. "Tomo-chan won't lose to you! Let's play doubles! Oishi, you play with this girl, and me and Tomo-chan will defeat you!"

Kagura turned to Oishi. "Weren't they supposed to be fighting or something?"

A shout of "All right! Let's go, Eiji!" was heard from the court.

Oishi shrugged and looked at her helplessly. "I think it's probably best if we just play."

* * *

Ryoma was bored. He stared dispassionately at the girl in front of him, idly wondering how, exactly, he had been talked into this again.

When the girl noticed him looking at her, she looked back, seeming slightly startled by the attention. "Uh. Hi?" she said.

Ryoma looked at her for a while still, and then nodded slightly.

After a while, the girl started to look really nervous.

Ryoma sighed, and kept his eyes on her.

After yet another moment, the girl's arms started flailing about nervously.

Ryoma watched boredly, wondering when he was allowed to go home.

"Ochibiii..." a voice said next to him. Ryouma glanced to the side, where Kikumaru-sempai had appeared next to him.

"Hm?" Ryoma answered.

"Ochibiii..." Kikumaru repeated.

"Yes?"

The upperclassman was staring at the girl as well, who was by now looking like she'd like nothing better than to run somewhere far away.

"Ochibiii..." Kikumaru whined. "She's smaller than you..."

Ryoma shrugged.

* * *

Kaidoh was standing next to Sakaki-san, trying to seem like he wasn't completely confused about what he was actually supposed to be doing. At least most of her friends seemed occupied.

His ruminations were interrupted by a sudden pain from a kick to his ankle. The girl whose name he was pretty sure was Kaori was staring at him accusingly.

"Um," he said, not quite sure how to deal with a girl kicking him. He almost wished Momoshiro would have been there. He could have yelled at _him._ It would have been his fault somehow anyway.

"You," the girl said angrily, "stole Sakaki-san away from me!" Then, she burst into tears, and ran off.

Kaidoh stared after her, not sure if he should go after her or not. He finally turned to Sakaki for help, but she was staring after the girl as well, looking just as bewildered.

"Don't worry about it," a voice said, and he turned to see yet another one of the girls - Kagura, he thought this one was. She slapped him on the back, and added, "there's one in every group."

Kaidoh looked at her for a few seconds before his brain stopped trying to get that statement to make sense and he blurted out his spontaneous reaction to it. "What, just the _one?_" he asked, honestly astonished.

* * *

Tezuka leaned back and sighed, trying valiantly to ignore the chaos around him.

His head was beginning to ache.

Why was he here again? It didn't make any sense, really. He and Kaidoh weren't close anyway, they simply played tennis on the same team and that was that. Inui, however, had seemed to think it was vital that he be there with the rest of the team, and Oishi had insisted on the same thing ("You don't want Kaidoh to think you disapprove of his girlfriend, do you? Your approval is very important to your team, you know.") Tezuka thought he had done a pretty good job of ignoring them - years of associating with the two boys in question had thought him that sometimes, it was essential for your sanity to tune them out. Fuji, too, had suggested he should come - according to him, it might actually be _fun._ Fuji had some strange ideas of fun sometimes, Tezuka had learned over the years - for some reason, they often seemed to include _other people_, of all things, even when there was no tennis involved. So he had chosen to ignore Fuji as well.

But then Kikumaru had told him that story... Something about a girl, and a tennis player, and a dream and a wish for approval and heartbreak and... He couldn't quite recall the details, now that he thought about it.

Only it had been very moving.

Next thing he knew, he'd promised to be here, and here he was.

Kikumaru would be running many laps over the next week, Tezuka decided.

He sighed again, and stole a glance at the girl seated at the other end of the bench. Yomi, he remembered she'd been introduced as. She was looking almost as exasperated as Tezuka was feeling, and for a moment, he felt vaguely grateful that there was at least someone who shared his suffering.

Until one of the other girls came bounding up to her, the one that was called Tomo and had played doubles with Kikumaru earlier.

"Yomiii! Come play tennis!" She leaned closer, as if to whisper something, but her voice didn't seem lowered at all. "You _really_ need the exercise, you know. You're starting to look more and more like a balloon every day."

Yomi bristled, and Tomo drew back. "Nah, just kidding. You're not like a balloon at all. You're more like... dough. Yeah. Kinda runny like that."

"Huh," he heard Fuji's voice behind him as Tomo flew through the air after Yomi's punch.

Tezuka turned around. Fuji watched Tomo landing on the court with a mildly interested look on his face. "Perhaps we should introduce them to Rokkaku's Kurobane and Amane," he said

Tezuka leaned back, closed his eyes and thought of Wimbledon.


End file.
